“The dictionary describes aphelion as “the point in the path of a celestial body (as a planet) that is farthest from the sun”, which i reckon is a suitable title since it reminded me of the night time, when I recorded and edited the majority of this work.

The night makes me think about openness and gathering. To me, it is a state of togetherness in which things are allowed to keep their own identity, yet they are covered under the veil of darkness. From time to time we may recognise such things as they are, but the night also evokes the so- called luxury of intuition, helping us become aware of their existence without using our sense of sight.

One might feel that the night has a disturbing, chaotic and uncontrollable character. I can relate to that since it becomes harder to see; our ocularcentric modern ways of living are being challenged. Contrary to the sunlight that helps us divide, analyze and govern, the night tends to reveal our most primitive selves, as well as uncovering our deepest thoughts, untold dreams and memories. In addition, in such state of openness, the lack of light provides more space for the activation of other senses.

This is when hearing becomes so acute – as well as touching and smelling. I still think about smell, but hearing can also be associated with touch, since we are literally touched by sound in the form of waves through space, and they become audible in the range between 20Hz. and 20kHz. The night makes this contact even more obvious.

Such communication is the most intimate that two complete strangers (who will probably not meet again) can be. And I’m once again grateful for my own personal aphelion (2:44 AM, GMT+2) at the moment for helping me write this to you, beloved listener.”

Born and raised in Ankara – Turkey, Ipek Gorgun is an electronic music composer currently enrolled in the doctoral program of Sonic Arts at Istanbul Technical University’s Center for Advanced Studies in Music.

After graduating from Bilkent University with a degree in Political Science, she completed her master’s studies in Philosophy at Galatasaray University with her dissertation in entitled “le Silence de l’Etre-avec et de l’Etre-Seul dans Etre et Temps de Heidegger” (The Silence of Being-Alone and Being-Together in Heidegger’s Being and Time).

As one of the participants of the Red Bull Music Academy in 2014, she performed in Tokyo as an opening artist for Ryoji Ikeda’s “Test Pattern No: 6” and joined Otomo Yoshidide for a collective improvisation project. In April 2015, she was invited to Cologne as artist-in-residence and performer by the New Music Foundation of Cologne (ON: Cologne) and Opekta Ateliers.

After a brief education in classical guitar, her journey as a performer began in 2001 as a fill-in drummer for Four Handle One Scandal, a punk-rock/ska band. After switching to bass guitar and singing, she took place in experimental music projects such as Bedroomdrunk, Coquelicot and Vector Hugo between the years 2001 – 2012 and opened for Jennifer Finch from L7 and Simon Scott from Slowdive, while playing live with David Brown from Brazzaville in Istanbul and Ankara. She has released two EPs with Bedroomdrunk, entitled “This is What Happened (2003)” and “Raw (2007)”.

Besides group projects and solo performances, she also composed the soundtrack for the documentary ‘Yok Anasinin Soyadi (Mrs. His Name) directed by Hande Cayir in 2012, portraying Turkish women’s struggle for keeping their original surnames after marriage.

In addition to musical efforts, Ipek Gorgun practices performance, street and abstract photography. She won the IPA honorable mention award in 2013-14 with her work entitled “Bubblegun Daydreamer” and in 2013, she worked as the advertisement photographer for Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair. She has also contibuted to contemporary poetry journals such as Yumusakge and Tenedos between 2007 – 2009.

Reviews for the self-released version:

“Splintered bleeps phase in and out across funnelling drones make for a delicate introduction, but they’ve very soon obliterated, bulldozed buy a barelling blast of deep, droning, high-volume electronic noise and scraping feedback, fuzzed out at the edges with distortion. On Aphelion, Gorgun exploits the full dynamic range, moving between soft and sometimes ominous quieter passages to louder, harsher tones; sometimes gliding, long notes hover, while at others, sharp, sudden arrive unexpectedly to jolt the listener. In terms of frequencies, too, Gorgun explores the sonic spectrum to powerful and sometimes uncomfortable effect.” [Christopher Nosnibor, Aural Aggravation]

“‘Glacial’ is a term often used to describe experimental electronic music but that would be a criminally wasteful term of expression to describe the shifting, pulsing and often gnarled soundscapes of Ipek Gorgun. At times it does indeed have a pinpoint crystal iciness about it with what feels like washes of cold, pure Eno or Fennesz like sound invading the head space, and yet at other times the growling, bubbling analogue synths of someone like Aphex Twin spring to mind, or the odd ball, twitchy, cult composers like François Bayle or Eliane Radigue. Whichever way you look at it, this is a fine example of intricate electronic sound design.” [Vision Music Promotion, London]

“What makes Aphelion extra special is that even though that build is gradual and patient, it never feels like an exercise or a closed system. Each track progresses with an unencumbered air; Gorgun has figured out how to make careful, deliberate steps feel like spontaneous leaps, and vice versa. So when Aphelion is droning, it feels ready to burst into pointillist clusters; when it’s busy, it feels on the verge of calm. By the end it actually is calm, drifting into a beatific denouement that’s fully earned by the diverse activity that preceded it. But this is music too rich and complex for easy endings, and all the conclusion really does is make me want to press play again.” [Marc Masters, 200 Words Pitchfork/The Out Door]

“Listened to in a state of semi-willing wakefulness in the imminent expectation of the arrival of hypnotised, tired-out dozing that movement through a landscape can engender, Aphelion matches those moods and the state of hovering just between consciousness and collapse. shifts and half-cogent tones seem to speak of a dormant world of figurative symbolism and archetypal tone poems celebrating the restful dissolve into the slumbering arms of an electronic Morpheus.” [Antron S. Meister, FreqZine]

israbox (illegal web download)

Turkish female prodigy Ipek Gorgun has been aptly recruited by the mighty Touch imprint within minutes of her first material being released, and we couldn’t think of a more suitable home for this young talent’s sonic experiments. Enrolled as a music student in Ankara, Gorgun certainly has no time for traditional music laws if this album is anything to by. Improvisation and experimentation are the two keywords here, but we really mean it; we’ve heard very few releases that manage to harness so many different styles and influences under one roof, and the producer’s talent lies in her ability to make seemingly impossible transitions seem utterly natural. From noise, then straight to gentle ambient, and then back to the most placid of drones, Ipek Gorgun is the new, undisputed Drone Queen.

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